Nha Trang – Little Russia

Nha Trang (pron.Na Chan) on the south central coast is a popular stopover for many backpackers and tourists. Like most towns it has it’s specific tourist area, but unlike the remainder of Vietnam, is dominated by Cyrillic language signs above the restaurants and shops – illustrating how popular it is with Russian tourists.

Due to the largest Soviet port outside Russia being based a few kilometres south at Cam Ranh from 1979 until 2002, when it was converted into a civil base, Russians have enjoyed the delights of one of the World’s most attractive bays, with its islands and resorts. Vinpearl Island (or Mon Tre), reached by a series of 8 Eiffel tower copies suspending the longest cable car system in Asia.

There are in excess of 700 flights plus cruise ships catering for the Russian market with a monopoly held by the travel firm, Pegas, indicating the tourism investment catering to Russian visitors.

Oceanographic Institute

The working Institute of Oceanography is a must see for visitors to the port area. We spent a half day looking around which the children loved and I also found interesting.

I’m always surprised at the number of complaints on the review sites against going here, when I’ve seen many more poorly kept animals in European zoos than here. I’m not suggesting Vietnam or Asia has a better record and personally I don’t like to see animals caged, especially birds and sea animals, but in the interests of scientific research the collaborations by this institute with its counterparts elsewhere have been invaluable especially with their research in areas such as the Spratley islands.

Long Son Pagoda

Long Son Pagoda, about 1/2 kilometre from the Train station is an impressive sight with its Gautama Buddha (the traditional figure of Buddha) 152 steps up overlooking the town and guarding the cemetery at it’s feet.

It was originally built in 1886 but had to be rebuilt first due to typhoon damage, where it was relocated to its present spot. It was heavily damaged in 1968, as a result of the Vietnam war when it was rebuilt.

As the headquarters of the Buddhist Association in Khanh Hoa district since 1936 it was rebuilt although suspended due to the fall of Saigon in 1975.

Po Nagar Cham Towers

The Cham towers at Po Nagar are a particularly good example of Cham architecture. Built between the 7th and 12th centuries they are still used today for worship.

The site is well appointed with a small garden and museum, explaining a little more about the Champa race, when the towers were re-discovered, excavated and restored over the last one hundred years.

If you’ve been reading my previous posts you may know that the Cham peoples ruled the Vietnamese peninsula, including parts of present day Laos and Cambodia from approximately the 2nd to the rule of the Nguyen dynasty in 1832 when they were absorbed into present day Vietnam.

Tran Quoc Tuan monument

Prince Tran Quoc Tuan (Chan Kwok Twan) commanded the Dai Viet (one of the old names for Viet Nam) and repelled three major Mongol invasions under Kublai Khan in the 13th Century.

This is what travelling is about when you see figures like this and research them as I was always taught the Mongols defeated everyone in their path – obviously not the case and possibly unknown outside of Vietnam. He is also known as General Tran Hung Dao (Chan Hun Daw).

Due to his popularity there are a number of major streets named after him & statues dotted across the country.

The sights and accommodation

It is tempting to want to cram everything into a tour of a country we might not visit again for a long time, but we’re now taking it slower with trying to connect to the locals, learn some of the language and culture, which isn’t always easy in a tourist resort.

Although there are many more things to do in Nha Trang, we only did a handful, although I did take in five days of scuba diving (Another post due soon on diving in Vietnam).

As we’re budget travellers by choice, hoping we can bootstrap a number of business opportunities whilst travelling, we’re always looking for cheap, but CLEAN, accommodation. When we initially arrived we stayed at Queen 7 hotel, which was adequate, although too small and with no disrespect to the thousands of Russian holidaymakers we decided to find something out of the centre.

This is where our habits are starting to change as we need some space to clean, cook, eat etc. to be comfortable. We stayed here for 2 nights and then looked around locally after searching the map. We found a 2 bed apartment, managed by two Ukrainian women, Homestay ‘Margo’, complete with kitchenette & free use of the sunroof balcony (although it’s too hot) which was $25 per night on the north of the bay at Hon Chong beach, where we stayed for the remainder of our time in Nha Trang.

Next stop: The UNESCO site of the ancient village of Hoi An. Only a 12 hour overnight bus ride!